Obama absent at Afghanistan hearings

By Sam Youngman
Posted: 03/01/08 11:17 PM [ET]

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who has come under fire about his readiness to be commander-in-chief, missed two of three Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on Afghanistan since joining the panel.

Obama has said the U.S. should have stayed focused on fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan while repeatedly criticizing his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), and presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) for their votes in favor of a resolution backing the Iraq war.

But since joining Foreign Relations, Obama has missed three meetings on a "new strategy" in Afghanistan, a country he has never visited.

Obama was absent from a January 31 meeting this year, and also was not present for a hearing on Sept. 21, 2006. He did attend a March 8, 2007 hearing on a new Afghanistan strategy.

On Feb. 15, 2007, Obama also missed a committee hearing on U.S. ambassadors to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Clinton has ratcheted up her criticisms of the Illinois senator's experience and readiness to be president in recent days, specifically targeting Obama's foreign policy credentials. In their last debate before Tuesday's critical primaries in Ohio and Texas, Clinton hit Obama for not holding any oversight hearings on Afghanistan on the European Affairs subcommittee, which Obama chairs.

McCain has also stepped up his attacks on the Democratic frontrunner, trying to paint him as weak on foreign policy.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton, who acknowledged Obama has never been to Afghanistan, said Obama's missed meetings and the lack of a visit. to Afghanistan does not change the fact that Obama was right on Iraq. The Obama campaign has steadily criticized Clinton's vote on Iraq, which it calls "one of the only major foreign policy decisions [Clinton] has ever faced in her career."

Burton also said in an emailed response that these factors will not make Obama more vulnerable to Republican attacks if the Illinois senator is able to win the nomination.

"Unlike John McCain, Barack Obama opposed a war in Iraq that diverted resources from Afghanistan, and introduced comprehensive legislation last January that would end the war in Iraq and called for more troops in Afghanistan," Burton said. "The American people understand that both John McCain and Barack Obama have missed Senate hearings and votes during their campaigns, and they are responding to Obama’s judgment, record, and plans for finishing the fight in Afghanistan."

In his second trip overseas as a sitting senator, Obama was part of a congressional delegation that was scheduled to go to Afghanistan after visiting Iraq. Obama made the Iraq part of the trip but peeled off to visit Jordan and Israel instead of visiting Afghanistan, according to reports published at that time.

All three candidates have frequently been away from Washington to hit the campaign trail, particularly since late last year.

If Obama does win the Democratic nomination, McCain and the Republican party are liked to echo time and again the argument that Obama is too inexperienced to be commander in chief. The fact that he has never visited Afghanistan will likely serve as a point of attack for both Clinton and McCain.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-absent-at-afghanistan-hearings-2008-03-01.html